Vikings stadium design bidders get work showcase

MINNEAPOLIS — The five architectural firms competing to design the new Minnesota Vikings stadium were given a chance Thursday to show off their work.

The open house at the Metrodome was sponsored by the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which is working with the team to build the $975 million downtown Minneapolis stadium. Renderings of proposed stadium plans will not be released at the event, but the firms will show off designs for some of their previous projects.

One bidder will be immediately familiar to Minnesota sports fans. Kansas City-based Populous designed the Twins’ Target Field, TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The firm also designed Camden Yards in Baltimore, among other stadiums.

The other bidders are:

• AECOM, the Los Angeles firm that designed CenturyLink Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks.

• Ewing Cole of Philadelphia, which designed MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, home to both the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

• HKS of Dallas, the designer of Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where the Colts play.

• HNTB, the Kansas City architects that is designing the new San Francisco 49ers stadium currently under construction in Santa Clara, California.

Authority and team officials are interviewing firms Thursday and Friday, and plan to announce a designer on Sept. 14. Construction on the Vikings stadium, roughly at the site of the current Metrodome, is scheduled to get underway in 2013 with a hoped-for opening of 2016.